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Entered CNET Catalog: 10/06/2001
SKU: 0092281810805
Manufacturer: Panasonic
Manufacturer description
Panasonic printers have a long-standing reputation for exceptional price, performance, and value. This award-winning family of printers provides you with a variety of options to fit your specific requirements. Whether you're looking for a solid dot matrix, a reliable laser, a multifunction printing device or even a high-end color printer, Panasonic printers will give you years of performance and satisfaction. The KX-P7100 laser printer from Panasonic is the ideal solution for desktop, SOHO and office environments. Equipped with auto duplex function, it is optimized to support applications for Windows. The KX-P7100 also comes with a versatile manual feed, Auto Interface switching, and an ergonomic design, and the quality you have come to expect from Panasonic.Product summary
The good: Easy setup; automatic duplexing.
The bad: Relatively slow print speeds; subpar print quality; no Mac support; no interface cables.
The bottom line: The KX-P7100's performance fails to match its above-average paper-handling capabilities, making it hard to recommend this laser over faster, similarly priced models.
CNET editors' review
- Editors' Choice: No
- Reviewed on: 06/17/2002
Snappy setup
The $349 KX-P7100 is easy to set up and install. In addition to the 22-pound printer, the box contains the power cord, the toner, the drum, a driver CD, and an illustrated Setup Guide. The printer works with Windows 95, 98, Me, XP, NT 4.0, and 2000, but it's not Mac compatible. It connects via USB or parallel port (cables not included), but if you want to network the printer, you'll need to buy a separate print server. The driver CD also contains an electronic user guide, which covers basic operation, troubleshooting, and maintenance in more depth.
Few frills
The boxy KX-P7100 is much like a standard desktop laser except for a couple of notable exceptions. The media tray can hold 250 sheets of plain paper (letter, legal, executive, and A4), 30 envelopes, or 20 transparencies. For thicker media, such as labels, the printer offers a straight-through manual-feed slot. The KX-P7100's most significant feature is its integrated duplexing unit, which lets you print on both sides of the page; it's a rarity in this class of printer.
In addition to the usual settings for paper size and media type, the print driver also offers some extras. For example, you can save your company's letterhead or logo as an overlay file and have it automatically print on any document you choose. You can also reduce or enlarge documents from 25 to 400 percent of the original size, print up to four reduced pages on a single sheet, and save your current driver settings for later use with the Profiles tab.
Disappointing performance
In CNET Labs' speed and image-quality tests, the KX-P7100 was something of a letdown. Rated by the vendor at 15ppm (pages per minute), it delivered text at a rate of only 7.6ppm, measurably slower than the Lexmark E320's 12.1ppm. Text looked good overall, but letters lacked saturation and crispness. The KX-P7100 also produced text-and-graphics pages at a respectable 9.9ppm, but images looked faded and lacked detail and contrast.
When it comes to consumables, the KX-P7100 is fairly economical. According to Panasonic, a 4,000-page toner cartridge costs around $55, or about 1.4 cents per page. Like most low-cost lasers, the KX-P7100 also features a toner-save mode, which can save you money over the long run.
Panasonic's service and support policies are minimally adequate. The one-year exchange warranty is typical for the category but too short for our tastes. Free telephone support is available Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. ET but only for the length of the warranty--and it's a toll call. And while the company's Web site offers updated drivers and FAQs, it lacks other useful resources such as manuals or a searchable knowledge base.
With its automatic duplexing, the KX-P7100 might have been a strong contender for use in home offices or on individual corporate desktops. However, its slow print speeds and merely fair graphics output make it less appealing than the competition.
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The KX-P7100 delivered text at a rate considerably slower than that of competing models from Lexmark, Brother, and HP. The Panasonic was faster in graphics speed tests, but output quality suffered.
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User opinions
Select a User Opinion to view: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 User Rating: 
9/10
Worth the money
Pros: Duplex; laser, purchased for $99
Cons: Jams towards end of toner life
User Rating: 
1/10
Never ending Jams
Pros: Good print quality, auto duplexing
Cons: Whats the use of a printer that doesnt work?
by far the most disappointing product ever!
User Rating: 
3/10
This printer is like a girl with PMS
Pros: When and If it decides to print, It comes out great
Cons: It will throw fits and Wont print on you because
I forgot to mention, replacement toner is about 70 bucks and replacement drum is about 130, even thou this printer with rebate is like 50 bucks... If you didn't throw it out already, sell the parts off
User Rating: 
7/10
Big printer, little price.
Pros: The price is great, duplex is nice. I have 8,917 pages on mine, and just pull the plug on the toner, dump in some loose toner out of a canister ($30 CDN = 4 fills), lithium grease, and rub the rollers with alcohol. I've also shoved cereal boxes through
Cons: The printer is usually fine and doesn't jamb on cheap stock, but envelopes jamb about 20% of the time. Only one media tray. Toners cost 80% of purchase price.
User Rating: 
4/10
Too many paper jams
Pros: Duplex printing is great.
Cons: The paper jams are too frequent and difficult to clear the jammed paper.
User Rating: 3/10
What it does best is JAM!
Pros: Handy frontloader for single evelopes or pages. Inexpensive.
Cons: Constantly jams, especially on larger print jobs. Built cheap. Paper guides in lower paper tray are of poor quality. Did I say it jams alot?
User Rating: 
5/10
Never stops jamming!!
Pros: Automatic Duplex.
Cons: This printer jams every time I print anything. Often it says there's a "Paper Jam at A", but when I open the printer, there isn't any paper at A, B, or anywhere else but the tray. I spent $99 on this piece of junk. I guess I got what I paid for. I wil
User Rating: 3/10
Nice price, crap printer.
Pros: Prints duplex, when it prints.
Cons: Constantly jams, fails to load paper frequently, I spend more time attending the errors than printing.
User Rating: 
2/10
Master of the Paper Jam
Pros: It prints on both sides of the paper when it isn't jammed.
Cons: It is always jammed. Shameful design. I was lured in by a rebate. Spend the extra money and buy a HP.
User Rating: 1/10
JAMS ALL THE TIME
Pros: None that I can think of, it jams continually, easier to write with a pen
Cons: Doesn't work!
User Rating: 
8/10
Good machine for the Money--bought one for work, one for home
Pros: Duplexing is nifty; Great price ($100 after rebates at Tiger Direct when I bought it); quiet, print quality is more than adequate for my needs. A lot cheaper than inkejets. Works great on Windows 2000 (with latest drivers) and prints over a network fine
Cons: Only ships with 2,000 print toner (as opposed to 4,000 normally). Doubtful you will every be able to buy re-manufactured toner cartridgets for it (as opposed to, say an HP). One of my printers occasionally jams; other is perfect. Does not deal well wit
User Rating: 3/10
Just too many paper Jams!!!
Pros: Quiet. Nice print quality.
Cons: I would have a paper jam every 10 to 15 pages. One 45 page document I had 6 paper jams. Sent it back after just 30 days use.
User Rating: 9/10
Great printer at this price point
Pros: The duplexing capability is a real plus, I print 2 pages per side, saves a lot of paper and print is good, print speed is better than than CNet reports. Was a little leery buying the printer after reading the CNET review, but have been very satisfied wit
Cons: Toner save mode doesn't work very well.
User Rating: 1/10
good price but outdated drivers!!!
Pros: -good quality printing -duplex feature -good status/console gui
Cons: -does not work with win 2k without downloading new drivers -no netwrok printing -go to http://panasonic.co.jp/pcc/pr oducts/en/printer/model/mlp/p7 100/p7100download.htm to fix problems with this printer!!!
User Rating: 8/10
I like it and works good with XP using USB
Pros: I got this printer today and used new driver instead of cd came with it. Using USB on XP doesn't give me any problem. Text quality is actually not bad. I don't know why review was bad about text quality. I haven't tested printing graphics but I probably w
Cons: Case is a little bit bulky but well..good for the price. Ahhh....a little bit noisy when it prints but I don't use it all day so I can bear with it.
